What Happens Next
by Jessica Cornell
Summary: Takes place after Season 1. Ward is a prisoner on the Bus. Skye is changed forever by everything that has happened and little by little Ward drops bits of information about her parents and what really happened in China when she was baby. Will Skye spiral out of control, become the monster Raina said she would be? Will Ward save her from herself or push her down to his level?
1. Chapter 1

**Nothing belongs to me. :( LOL**

Skye should feel happy, but she didn't. Not really. Garret was dead, that was true, and it was a good thing, but Fitz was in a coma, Ward was a traitor, Quinn and Raina were free (with the gravitonium), and Simmons wasn't herself since her near-death experience. She seemed scared all the time, yet focused on Fitz to the exclusion of all else.

The family they had been for such a short time was gone. Why did she even try anymore? It was pointless.

"Skye."

She turned from her dark musings to see Coulson walking toward her. She forced a smile. "Yeah? What's up?"

"We're transferring the prisoner for interrogation. Wanna come? May's got the bus and Simmons is with Fitz. I could ask Trip if you want," Coulson offered.

"No." The familiar anger surged through Skye at the mention of their 'prisoner'. Ward. "I want to come." She fell into step alongside her boss.

"I'd understand if it's still too personal."

"We kissed like twice," she said, rolling her eyes. "May got a hell of a lot more personal with him than I did."

"Yeah, but May has training. You don't."

"Because my SO is a traitor and my training was probably half-assed anyway." She couldn't help the bitter tone.

"Yes, we'll have to do something about that. Maybe Trip," he said thoughtfully.

"You want me to get a new SO?"

He nodded. "There's still so much for you to learn, and I feel bad," he admitted. "I don't want what happened with Ward to influence your feelings about the experience in general. There should be trust and respect, not fear and betrayal."

"It's not your fault. He fooled everyone. They all did."

Coulson stopped in front of the room Ward was being held in. "I would like you to go in there alone at first, if that's alright. I want to see how he reacts and what he says."

"Whatever could've been between us is over now," Skye said, rolling her eyes. "We're enemies. He's not going to treat me any different."

"He always treats you different. Just because you feel a certain way about him doesn't mean that he feels the same way about you. Like it or not, I don't think he was faking his feelings for you."

Skye sighed and pulled out her laptop. "Fine. I'll do it. What do you want to get out of this?"

"Just get him to talk to you."

She nodded and turned to the door. She pushed it open, saw Ward sitting cuffed to the table, and let it close behind her.

His eyes narrowed slightly when he saw it was her, but he didn't say anything. Just watched her.

She sat down and placed her laptop in front of her on the table.

"This is Coulson's master plan?" Ward asked, snorting in disbelief. "Send you in to interrogate me?" He obviously thought that was a joke.

Skye gave him a look. "Coulson made me come in here. I don't know what he hopes to accomplish with all this and I don't care. He asked, I came. Feel like talking?"

Ward gave a tight smile in response.

Skye shrugged and started typing. "How do you feel?"

"What?"

"How do you feel? I mean, now that Garrett's dead and you can't use him as an excuse for murdering people anymore, how does it feel to know that you've screwed up everything in your life? To know that the one person that you cared about is dead?" Wow, she was feeling spiteful today.

Ward glanced down at his hands shackled to the table in front of him. "Garrett wasn't the only person I care about, Skye. You know that."

Skye's eyes narrowed. "Oh, I almost forgot. Me," she said sarcastically. "You care about _me_ and would never hurt _me_. Isn't that what you said?"

A muscle in his jaw ticked. "Yes. I wasn't lying."

"But, you did lie. You said you'd never hurt me, but you tried to kill Fitz and Simmons. Fitz is in a coma because of you. Quinn, the guy who shot me, is free because of you. That hurts me."

Ward stayed silent.

Skye remembered that she was supposed to be getting something useful out of him and tried to stamp down her anger. This wasn't the way to get him to talk.

She closed her laptop and leaned back in her chair, rubbing one temple to ward off a headache. "Coulson wants to give me a new SO. He's thinking about Trip."

Was that a flicker of hurt that crossed his face?

"Or May. Probably May." She didn't know why she added that last part. Maybe because May always sparked some sort of reaction from him.

She was right. Ward's eyes shot up to hers. "May? Are you serious? You think I'm a robot and you're going to train under her? God," he muttered.

"We've bonded in the last couple weeks."

"Over what? Me? What a bastard I am?" he asked sarcastically.

"No. Over the dissolution of SHIELD. The only thing I've ever been apart of in my whole life," she defended. "May's not as bad as you think. Just because she didn't mope around here, weeping over you-"

He cut her off. "It's not that. I couldn't care less about what she thinks of me. I just think it would be shame if you changed." He swallowed hard and looked down at the table again. "May's hard and cold. You're not. I don't want you to become like her."

Skye looked him over. Then she looked over at the cameras in the corner ceiling, hesitating for just a second. Ward noticed. She slowly slid a hand across the table toward his. Those hands that had shot Agent Hand, strangled Eric, pushed the button that drowned Fitz… Her fingers slid over his. He was warm.

For just a second, memories of training and playing Battleship and casual touches here and there flashed through her mind. Unwillingly, tears stung her eyes. This wasn't part of the act. The pain in her chest was real. The emotions froze her voice.

"I found out something for you," Ward said in a low voice.

She jerked her hand back and quickly blinked back the tears, wiping her cheeks free of the ones that fell. Her face composed itself into a stony mask. "Yeah, what's that?"

He stayed silent for a moment too long and she got the feeling that whatever he was going to tell her was bad. "Tell Coulson to go into SHIELD's files and find the one on Raina. Tell Simmons to compare her blood with yours."

"Why?"

"Just do it."

Skye stared at him. "She said something about me to you, didn't she?"

He didn't answer.

"Damnit, Ward, tell me what she said. She's with Quinn, isn't she? With the graitonium."

He shifted in his seat.

"What do I have that they want, Ward? Are they coming after me?"

"Not anytime soon."

She slammed her hand on the table. "Where are they? I'm going to find them and when I do I'm going to shoot them both in the head, I swear to God. I've had it with those bastards."

"Skye, you couldn't kill a fly. You certainly wouldn't kill a person. You care about life too much."

Skye stood up, bending down toward him. "Yeah? And isn't that a weakness, Ward? I mean, according to your precious Garrett, it is. I think I agree with him." Then she jerked her laptop up with both hands and stormed out of the room.

Coulson was there as expected. She cut him off before he could say anything. "I'm going to find them, Coulson. That bitch knows something about me and I'm done running from it. I've been running from the truth my entire life." She knows something. Something about what I really am.

He put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm with you on this, Skye. We're a team, remember? Don't let Ward get to you."

She looked back at the door to the room she'd just exited. "We have to keep him here with us. He knows more than he's telling. He might know where Quinn and Raina are hiding too."

Coulson paused in contemplation. "Fine. I'll put May on his security and try to dig up those files on Raina he was talking about. Any idea why he wants Simmons to compare your blood with hers?"

Skye had several theories and they all made her sick.


	2. Chapter 2

Fitz looked dead.

Skye stared down at him, at his pale, unconscious face, and bit her lip. This was what she'd looked like when she'd been shot. Horrible. Dead. "Have you gotten a chance to look over Raina's blood sample yet?"

Simmon's face pinched into a tight smile. "Not yet. I've been a little busy, Skye."

Skye heard the irritation in the other girl's voice, but this couldn't wait. "You and I both know that there is nothing more you can do for him, Jemma." Immediately, she felt bad for saying that.

Simmons blinked, but didn't say anything. Tears filled her eyes.

Skye felt awful and came around to hug her. "I'm sorry. That came out harsh, but what I meant was that there might be a way to save Fitz. To heal all of him with Raina's blood."

Simmons gave her a weak smile, blinking back tears. "I want to save him, Skye, but I don't really think that-"

Skye interrupted her, dropping her voice low. "I think that Raina might be related to me. In some way." If not family, then maybe they were the same type of 0-8-4- or whatever. She didn't tell that to Simmons though. "That stuff that they gave Coulson didn't react to me the same way. There's something in my blood and maybe Raina's too that can save Fitz. I know it. And you're the only one in this world smart enough to find it."

Simmons didn't say anything, but during Skye's pep talk her expression had changed ever so slightly. Her eyes got that calculating, sciencey look in them that Skye had become so familiar with. She started rattling off words and phrases that sounded like gibberish to Skye.

"I have no idea what you're saying, Jem, but go for it." Skye gave her a big smile and removed her hand from the other girl's shoulder. "I'm going to go find Quinn." After a few heartbeats, a sounded behind her.

"Skye, be careful. Please."

Skye gave her a look that said 'When am I ever?'. "Cross your fingers. Let me know when you find something, okay?" She turned and left the lab to go upstairs. Quinn and Raina were out there with gravitonium, probably building some super weapon. It wasn't just her past she had to figure out. The future was in jeopardy too.

Life was crap.

Ward sat chained to the table in the interrogation room, thinking about everything he'd given up, everyone he'd betrayed or murdered, and the life that he could've had-all those sacrifices no longer meant anything. Garrett was dead, and before that he'd been made insane by whatever serum Raina had managed to reproduce. The same serum that was given to Skye and Coulson.

_They_ seemed normal, but who really knew?

His stomach clenched at the thought of Skye ending up like Garrett. Of mentally deteriorating. Ending up a murderous psycho.

He expelled a breath and shifted in his seat. How long were they going to keep him here? And how was he going to escape?

_Do I even want to? Wasn't that why I didn't tell Skye everything Raina told me? I don't want to leave them again. There has to be a way to make things right._

This is what Ward thought about way down deep, where he'd never admit it to anyone. That place inside him still hoped to make amends, to be accepted back into the group, and to pretend that the last few weeks didn't happen.

But, they did happen and Coulson would never trust him again. Ever. Period.

Neither would May.

He'd tried to kill the only person who still thought there was good in him. Fitz was a vegetable now because of what he'd done.

His jaw clenched. His fist followed. What was wrong with him? How screwed up was he?

But what it all came down to was whether or not Skye could ever look at him differently. He thought that there must be something he could do to earn a measure of … not trust, but maybe a smile. Hell, he'd take a half-smile.

He was more than a little ashamed and sickened at the way his mind kept replaying that last conversation with Raina.

_Maybe you could be monsters together_, she'd said.

He shouldn't want Skye to become a monster, even if it did make her more accepting of him and what he'd done.

He shouldn't want that.

The door opened and for second he thought it might be Skye again. But it was Coulson. Ward swallowed and set his jaw. Great.

Coulson's polite smile was on overdrive today. "Ward. We have some things to discuss."

Ward watched him sit down, but didn't answer.

Coulson folded his hands in front of him on the table. "Skye's been trying to locate Raina and Ian Quinn, but so far no luck. Any ideas on where they would've gone?"

Ward still stared, but now a belligerent look entered his eyes.

"It'd have to be a place with sufficient facilities to house the gravitonium that you gave them."

That irked Ward and even though he knew he was being goaded, he answered anyway. "I didn't _give_ them anything. Garrett did, against my better judgment."

"You don't have better judgment," Coulson said frankly. "If you did, you would've stopped following Garrett when you found out how evil he was. Or at the very least, in the plane with Agent Hand you had a choice. You could've shot Garrett and no one would've known about your HYDRA affiliation. You could've done the right thing then, but you didn't."

Self-righteous bastard. Ward sneered and leaned forward slightly. "You think that Garrett was in charge of HYDRA?" It was beyond satisfying seeing the barest glimpse of a flicker in Coulson's eyes. _Stop talking now_, he ordered himself. He didn't listen. "Garrett got to me when I was fifteen and from where I was sitting he wasn't evil. For five years, all I knew was pain, hunger, and self-reliance. He said it made me tough. And all the crap he put me through was like a vacation compared to my real life." Ward expelled a breath and gathered himself together. "You don't stop being HYDRA, Coulson, no matter what you think. You don't just un-join."

"Who's in charge? If not Garrett then who?"

Ward decided he'd said enough and wasn't going to say anymore.

Coulson kept talking but got nowhere. Then the door opened and Skye stuck her head. He glanced over. "Skye? What is it?"

She looked at Ward and he was surprised to see something other than her now-usual malice and disgust. "I have something." Coulson got up and left the room with her.

_She did? On what? On who? Was it Raina's blood? Did Simmons find any connection between that and Skye's DNA?_ He burned to ask, but that would get him nowhere.

_They don't trust you anymore_, he told himself, setting his jaw. _Suck it up and stop being weak. You're feelings for her are the reason you're in this mess in the first place. _

If only he hadn't cared about her, he could've done what needed to be done back when it still would've mattered.

But he couldn't help but dwell on the look in Skye's eyes when she entered the room. What did it mean?


	3. Chapter 3

"Are you sure we're alone?" Skye looked nervously around Coulson's office. "May doesn't have the place bugged, does she?"

Coulson gave a thin smile. "Not that I know of, but then again I probably wouldn't know if she did. What is it, Skye?"

She took a deep breath and sat down. "I think I've found a way to find Quinn and Raina."

Coulson waited, then frowned. "And?"

"Do you trust me?" She asked that in a rush, hoping the answer was one she'd want to hear.

Coulson's frown deepened. "With my life. What's going on here?"

"This has to stay between us, okay? It has to look real and therefore everyone's reactions have to be real. When I make my move … it might piss some people off."

"And you can't share what this move is with me? Don't you trust _me_?"

Skye nodded, and looked down at her hands. "You're the only person that I trust 100%, AC."

He smiled at her nickname for him.

"But, like I said, when I act everyone's reactions have to look real or else it won't work."

"I take it I'm going hate this plan." He smiled tightly, then exhaled a long-suffering sigh.

Skye pursed her lips, mockingly giving it some thought. "Yeah. I would say so."

Coulson looked at her for a few long moments. "I can't let you put yourself in danger. Last time you went after Quinn, he shot you. Twice. And then you died a couple times, you know that right?"

Skye looked down again. "Yeah. But now Fitz is the one laying out there dying and I can do something about it."

"Simmons can too."

"AC, I'm not the same poor little girl who can't defend herself. Just trust me, okay?"

Coulson shook his head after a few more moments of a grim expression. "Alright, I won't tell anyone about our conversation, but what exactly is your next move?"

At that, Skye smiled. "Well, there's this party … and I need a date."

Hours had passed. Maybe days. When the hell were they going to put him a cell or kill him?

Soon, he hoped, leaning down into his hands. His eyes closed, either out of irritation or boredom, he wasn't sure which.

Suddenly, the door opened and his head lifted. His eyebrows shot up to his hairline. "Skye?"

She was dressed in a red formal gown, strapless and floor length. Satin, if he had to guess.

And she smiled at him, striking a pose. "How do I look?"

Beautiful, he wanted to say, but didn't. There was something going on. She sat down across from him and stared. Finally, he asked, "What's the occasion?"

She gave him a secretive smile and pushed a piece of paper across the table. He picked it up and read, as she explained.

"I'm going to a HYDRA party. Apparently, everyone who's anyone will be there."

Ward felt both nauseous and confused. "Why? The place will be crawling with HYDRA. They'll kill you."

She rolled her eyes and then handed him another piece of paper, identical to the first. "Not if I bring a date, silly."

His brow knitted together. "A date? Who? Trip? Coulson?" He snorted. "Yeah, good luck with that."

Her eyes hardened as the door opened again. Coulson. What did he want now? He was carrying a box, much like the ones he'd given to Skye and that piece of crap ex-boyfriend of hers.

Coulson put the box down in front of him. "What do you say, Ward? Care to get out of this place for awhile, maybe have a drink, spy on some of your HYDRA friends? Make up for your entire two-faced life?"

Ward's fist clenched. Since Garrett had died, he was having a little trouble keeping a lid on his anger. "What are you talking about?"

Skye broke in. "Come with me to the party and help me get what I need and maybe your stay here can be more comfortable. Your HYDRA, aren't you? That means you'd be able to sneak into their shin-dig a little easier than the rest of us."

Ward looked between the both of them, waiting for the punchline. "Am I supposed to believe you're serious? You're just going to set me free? I tried to kill Fitz and Simmons. I didn't want to, but I tried anyway. You expect me to believe that if I go to some HYDRA party that's all forgiven?" There was a disgustingly hopeful part of him.

Coulson bent down and opened the box. There was a thick silver bracelet in it. "You will never be forgiven. What you've done is unforgivable."

Ward swallowed. That was harsh. True, but harsh. "Then why should I help you? What's the point?"

Skye caught his attention. Her eyes seemed to plead with him. "Ward, listen to me. I don't care what Coulson or any of them say. There's still good in you. I know it. I've seen your eyes. There's pain in them."

Damn her and her … ways.

Coulson frowned down at her.

"You may have done some unforgivable things, Ward, but you can at least try to make it right with the only people in this world who truly cared about you. Fitz is your fault," she said softly.

Ward looked away, guilt plaguing him. "There's nothing I can do about that."

"Put on the bracelet and help me. That's what you can do." Amazingly, she slid her hand across the table again, but retracted it at the last moment, glancing up at Coulson quickly. His frown was still etched on his face. "What do you say?"

Ward looked at her and felt his stomach flip. She was so beautiful.

Pull it together, Ward, he told himself. She's obviously trying to use your feelings against you.

But, he couldn't help but like it. Slowly, his hand moved toward the box. "Why the bracelet? This hinders the use of technology. Why do I need it?"

Coulson stepped back in, taking it out. "This is sort of the same, but Simmons made a few modifications. The coolest one is the poison injector. See here?" He turned the bracelet around so that two small thin needles were visible. "When the bracelet goes on, these go into your wrist. May will be remotely monitoring you the entire night and if you make one wrong she pushes a button and a lethal combination of the worst diseases in the history of mankind will be injected into your bloodstream. Simmons made them fast-acting too so you'd be dead within an hour of infection."

Wow, Ward thought sourly, Coulson looked amazingly pleased at the thought of his death. "Anything else about it I should know?"

"The tracking device inside is still the same. We'll know where you are every moment of every day."

"I suppose the password protection's still the same," Ward said, slowly realizing what this meant for him. What they were offering him.

Potential freedom. One way or another.

Skye nodded. "Only Coulson can unlock it."

And he would never do that. Still, Ward stared at the bracelet in fascination. "So, I wear that and take you to a party … and then what? We come back here, I go back to being chained to a table? Not much incentive." He leaned back in his chair as far as he could go, wondering if Coulson was going to go for the tough approach or make concessions.

"We'll talk about it when you get back," was all Coulson would say. "Don't help us and I'll make sure to put in a place that makes this seem like paradise. Understand?"

"SHIELD has been disbanded," Ward answered, looking sharply at his former boss. "What kind of facility do you have access to?"

Coulson's smile spread and Ward knew that it wasn't good. "Oh, I forgot. You haven't heard. There's a new Director of SHIELD."

"Who?" And how?

"Me."

Ward was screwed.

After Coulson attached the bracelet to Ward's left wrist, May came in.

"Ready?" She looked at Skye instead of addressing Ward directly.

Skye nodded. "May's going to take you to your new cell to change." Coulson unlocked Ward's shackles and he stood up. She couldn't help but swallow in fear now that he was released. She knew what he was capable of and even though May had bested him before, there was no reason to believe that she could do it again.

She stood up as he was led past her to the door. In the hallway, she stared at Ward's back, watching him walk with the same confidence that had always been present. She'd seen that view so many times before in the past, but now he was walking as a prisoner-a traitor of SHIELD. A stab of pain for everything that had been ruined because of him went through her chest.

Then a different feeling, a _bad_ feeling, settled like an itchy blanket over her, almost choking her with dread. She stopped walking for a minute to catch her breath. Coulson said something to her, probably asking if she was okay. "Fitz." Something was wrong with Fitz, but how could she know that?

Another wave of bad feeling hit causing her to gasp. Everyone was staring now. "Fitz. Something's wrong with Fitz."

Suddenly, she took off running, past them and down the hall, lifting her skirts so that she wouldn't trip. There was something wrong. She had to hurry.

She made it to the lab where Simmons was leaning over Fitz with the defibrillator. His body jerked once. She walked through the doors, fear weighing down each step. "Is he…?"

Simmons shook her head and charged the paddles again. "I won't let him. Come on, Fitz. Come on. Stay with me." She put the paddles over his chest and his body jerked again. Still, a flatline.

Skye rushed over, grabbing the boy's hand with both of her own, praying to God that he wouldn't die before she could get something to help him. Either more serum, or information from Raina, or … something.

The doors opened behind her and she knew it was Coulson or May.

Coulson.

She stared up at him, tears blurring her vision. The long beep in the background told her that Fitz was dead. It was over for him. There was no hope anymore.

Then another spasm of his body told her Simmons was still trying to save his life. Silence … then _Beep, Beep, Beep._

Skye raised her head to Jemma, asking the same question as before but this time with hope in her voice. "Is he…?"

Simmons almost seemed to collapse inside from relief. With tears and big smile, she nodded. "He's alive. For now. But I don't know how much longer I can do this. He could have brain damage when and _if_ he ever wakes up. Every time he dies … the chances of him being the same Fitz as before…" She shook her head, then something caught her eye. Something that filled her eyes with hate.

Skye turned around. May was standing outside the lab, a tight grip on Ward's arm. He was staring into the lab.

"Is it wrong that I hope he tries to escape?" The venom in Jemma's voice shocked Skye. "So May can give him a short but very painful death. He's ruined something so beautiful." Her sad eyes turned down to Fitz's pale face. "A mind like his shouldn't be ruined like this. Such a waste."

Skye had no answer or anything else useful to say to the other girl. The mission had to come first. "Jem," she said in a low voice, "Fitz wouldn't want you to hate Ward like this. He believed that Ward could be saved, that he wasn't evil." The sudden anger in Jemma's eyes when she looked up made Skye swallow hard. "I just mean that-I know it's tough, but everyone deserves a second chance. Don't they?"

"No," Simmons snapped, moving to the other side of the lab, "they don't. I can't even believe you're saying this. Fitz was your friend too and if it wasn't for his brilliance we would both be dead in a box at the bottom of the ocean because of Ward."

Skye felt horrible. "I know. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to cause you pain. Just forget I said anything." She backed away and then turned to leave the lab. Ward and May and Coulson had left and she hadn't even noticed. She had to make this work or else Fitz was a lost cause. And that wasn't acceptable to her. This was her family and he was a part of it.

The doors to the lab closed behind her with a whoosh. Coulson was waiting outside.

"How did you know he was in trouble?" Coulson's brow knitted together with a frown.

Skye had no answer for that. "I don't know. I just … had this feeling. This horrible feeling and I knew it was Fitz." She was still shaken by it-could still feel the heaviness in her chest. "I have to find Raina. There has to be something that she knows that will help cure Fitz."

"Ward knows more than he's telling," Coulson reminded her. "He is also emotionally compromised by you. That could work to your advantage."

Hearing him say that about Ward made her feel strange. She loved the old Ward, not the real Ward. But still … sometimes when she was around him it was hard to remember that everything he'd ever told her had been a lie. He was so good at sucking her into his misery and tough exterior. She couldn't help but still have feelings for him.

"I'll try and get more out of him," she said. "But he's probably just putting on an act. He thinks I'm the weakest member of the team and knows I have-_had_ feelings for him. If the past has taught us anything, it's that Ward is a master manipulator. He manipulated all of us, and is still doing it, hoping I'll help him escape or something."

"That might be true. He's proven to be one of the best liars I've ever encountered. And I've known a few," he added, glancing down at her. "But I still happen to think he feels something for you-a connection on some level at the very least, however misplaced it might be."

She didn't say anything in return.

"You know, its just going to be the two of you out there," he commented.

Skye took a deep breath. "I don't think he'd hurt me. Not with the threat of being poisoned to death hanging over his head. He knows that no one here would have a problem pushing that button. Especially May." Not with Fitz almost dying, she thought.

And if it came down to it, she knew that in the end, despite her feelings for the old Ward, she would be able to push that button too.

Or pull the trigger.


	4. Chapter 4

**Alright, so I'm working on a Google Chromebook which has some weird issues sometimes when downloading from Google Docs to .docx. I guess the asterisks I've been putting for scene breaks haven't been coming over when I upload the doc to Fanfiction. That's annoying, I know :) Sorry, but I think I've fixed it. Scene breaks will be marked with X's.**

The party was in full swing by the time Skye and Ward arrived. The chateau was in the south of France and it was magnificent. There had to be like fifty rooms in this thing, she thought.

"You know what to do?" Skye couldn't help feeling nervous about everything. Ward being basically free, being surrounded by HYDRA and potential HYDRA, Quinn possibly shooting her again, and her plan. Her real plan. Everything could fall hideously apart at any moment.

Ward sighed and gave her a look. "Yes, Skye. You know, I _have_ been doing this awhile."

Skye returned his look with one of her own, accompanied by a nasty tone. "Partying with HYDRA? Yeah, I know." She slid an arm through his and looked straight ahead, handing over their invitations and smiling their way through the door and into the foyer.

Ward placed a not-so-gentle hand over hers, nodding politely at the couples they passed. "You know, when I first met you, you were hacking government servers for the Rising Tide, sneaking off during high-speed chases to screw your criminal boyfriend, and infiltrating SHIELD with ulterior motives."

"Ugh, Ward, you cannot compare what I did to what you've done." She looked at him in disgust. "I never killed anyone, or gave secrets to the enemy, and when I got caught I did everything I could to make it right. The only reason you're here now, I'm betting, is because you're holding out some hope that somehow you can get free. That or connive your way back into Coulson's good graces."

Ward stopped up short, forcing her to stop walking too. "If I'm such a bastard, then why didn't you let me die when you had the chance? Fitz wouldn't be comatose right now, and you wouldn't be forced to ask for my help."

Skye paled. He was right. That had been replaying in her mind, over and over, since Fitz and Simmons were found. What happened to them was all her fault. If she'd just done what needed to be done, like May would've, none of itwould've happened. She swallowed and turned away, almost wrenching her hand free of Ward's. Almost._ I have a mission_, she told herself, keeping it in place. _Don't get distracted._

She reached up to her right earring and pushed the button on the back side, activating the audio that allowed her to talk to the team.

_Thought we'd lost you there for a minute, Skye. _It was Trip.

"I'm fine. Everything clear?"

_Now that comms have been activated, yes._

That was Coulson.

_How is Ward?_

She refused to look at him. What he'd said had hurt. "He's good. We both are." She tried to keep her voice low so that no one would overhear. "No sign of our boy yet, but I'll keep looking." Not that it really mattered. She was sure that Ward knew where Raina had been going. He would tell her one way or another. "Out, for now."

_Keep us posted._

She withdrew her arm from Ward and walked over to the bar. "Mai Tai," she said, glancing around at the partygoers. It was easier to spy from a bar. You looked less suspicious. She didn't necessarily think that she _needed_ Quinn to be here, but it would be a plus.

Ward motioned a guy away from her and then leaned up next to the bar. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to imply that you are responsible for what happened to Fitz. I did that. You're good, Skye. A better person than me."

She swallowed her anger to keep her voice neutral. "You're a murderer. Of course, I'm a better person than you."

"Oh my God, give it rest," he said, dropping his head backwards for a moment. "This holier-than-thou thing you've got going on is getting old. You think you don't have something inside you that could kill? Newsflash-you do. Everyone does. Where were you at fifteen, Skye?"

Foster care, hating life.

"Imagine someone came along and pushed all the right buttons, said all the right things … maybe told you that if you followed them you could find your parents. They showed you the world and you were eternally grateful." His face was dead serious. "You owed them-everything. And nothing else, no one else, could ever erase that debt."

She bit her lip and tried not to listen to what he was saying.

He leaned closer. "Can you honestly sit there and tell me that the first time you met Ian Quinn you weren't just a little bit-more than a little bit even-curious and drawn to whatever it was he was saying to get you to join him?"

"But I _didn't_ give into him," she said with a glare.

He nodded, not denying that she'd done the right thing. "That's part of what I like about you, Skye. You surprised me. I had you pegged in the beginning as one thing and you surprised me at every turn. Renewed just a little bit of my faith in humanity."

Her chest constricted just a little bit.

"But," he added, "how grounded were your morals and values at fifteen? What if, instead of Coulson, Quinn got to you first? Showed interest in you, valued you, didn't treat you like crap? And believe me Skye, to people like us, that's all it takes. A little bit of kindness and the right words at the right time." He glanced away from her and out into the crowd.

People like us… She stared down into her drink, at the orange and pink swirls and the cherry sitting on the top, but all she heard was his voice ringing in her ears. What would she have done if that had happened? It was true about Coulson. He'd been the first person in her entire life to give her something to admire, to look up to, and strive to be. He'd given her purpose.

But, at fifteen, she'd been lost and confused and angry. She'd hated authority and rebelled against almost everything. Quinn was charming, handsome, and charismatic. She was 80% sure that if they had met when she was younger she would have followed him blindly down whatever path he took her.

A small part of her wanted to believe that she would have eventually done the right thing, no matter what her circumstances were.

_Skye, don't let him get to you._

Coulson? She straightened and scowled. "I'm not."

"What?" Ward glanced over and then smirked. "Is that Coulson whispering in your ear? Tell him I said hi."

Skye swallowed. Her time here was almost up. Coulson only let her come to this thing with Ward because she'd told them Quinn was on the guest list. That wasn't entirely true. She'd needed to get Ward away from the Bus. "Coulson," she whispered, knowing he could hear her, "I'm sorry."

Ward gave her a confused look.

_Skye, is something wrong?_

Skye didn't respond. Instead, she reached down and took Ward's left hand. He stared at her, puzzled. The bracelet was shiny against his tan skin. "Joybuzzer.

_What are you doing, Skye?_

The bracelet powered down and Skye unlatched the hinge that fastened it together, sliding it off and getting the needles clear of his veins.

"What are you doing?" he asked, rubbing his wrist.

Skye reached up and took off her earrings. "Remember what I said, Coulson," she whispered into them before dropping them in her Mai Tai. She turned to Ward. "Come on. We've got to go before they get here to stop us."

"Go? Where are we going?"

She took his hand and led him away, through the crowd and into a deserted hallway. "I freed you. Now you can take me to Raina. Don't," she spat, "tell me you don't know where she is. Figure it out. Fast."

Ward stared at her like she'd grown two heads. "That's what coming to this party was all about? Getting me away from SHIELD so I could take you to Raina?"

She patted down his pockets until she was sure he wasn't hiding a cell phone he'd snagged from somewhere after he'd been freed. Then she took hers from the strap around her thigh and tossed it onto a small end table. "Do I look like I'm messing around, Ward? We have to get out of here."

He wouldn't budge. "There's no way you'd betray Coulson. I don't buy it. What's going on?"

She stopped trying to fight him for a minute, seeing it was getting her nowhere. "I've been searching for my parents for years. Everything I've done, including joining the Rising Tide and SHIELD, has been to find them. Raina knows something about me and I'm going to find out what it is. If you want to stay here and get caught again, be my guest." But, she hoped he didn't.

His dark eyes bored into her. "Coulson will be crushed. You really want to be branded a traitor, like me? You want May coming after you? What about Fitz and Simmons? Trip?"

Skye felt horrible enough without him throwing it all in her face at once. "I have to do this. Are you going to help me or were all those pretty words you spewed about having real feelings for me just manipulations?"

He looked as if he didn't know what to do. He hardly ever looked like that.

"Don't get a conscience on me now," she said coldly.

His eyes narrowed and jaw tightened. "You want to leave behind the only people you've ever loved? Fine with me. Let's go," he said brushing past her. He headed down the hall. "There's a back door."

A loud noise in the front made them hasten their pace. "Rendezvous point? There's a helicopter."

He shook his head. "They'll be expecting that. Coulson's probably waiting for us there." He pushed forward, making his way to the back until finally there were a pair of elegant French doors leading to a patio, or whatever rich people called a patio. "This way."

She followed him through and shivered in the chilly night air. Cars were parked by valet service off to the side. Ward didn't waste time punching out one of the valets and stealing a set of car keys. He jogged down to a black Bentley and unlocked it, motioning her to hurry.

"Skye, stop!"

She froze and turned. The wind whipped her hair around her face. May stood there, arms outstretched, pointing a gun straight at her.

"Don't do this, Skye. Not for him. He's not worth it."

She thought that Skye was freeing Ward because of some crush? She opened her mouth to say something, anything, that would stop May from looking at her with a thin veneer of disdain, but just then a drunken couple came stumbling out from the bushes and screamed, distracting May long enough for Skye to turn and start sprinting toward the car. Ward had started the engine and pulled up so she could jump in.

A sudden loud noise and then a searing pain in her arm made her cry out. Blood ran down her arm as she slid into the passenger seat. May shot her! Ward sped away just as more bullets made contact with the exterior.

"You're hurt," he said, glancing down at the blood running between her fingers as she tried to stop the flow.

"I'm fine. Just keep driving. I can't believe she shot me. With real bullets," Skye murmured.

Ward looked at her for a moment. "If you haven't noticed, May gets pissed off when people betray her." He rubbed his throat as an afterthought.

Skye bit her lip and looked out the window, trying to focus on anything that wasn't her arm. "When I find Raina, I can get some of that serum to give to Fitz. It'll be worth it. Even if they don't want me on the team anymore."

"You think Raina's just going to hand it over to you? Why?"

She didn't want to talk about this anymore. She was losing too much blood. "Give me your tie," she said. "I need it to wrap around my arm to stop the bleeding."

He quickly untied it and handed it to her. "We can't stop. Not until we ditch this car."

"I know," she snapped, missing his look of concern as she used her teeth to pull the tie tight around her upper arm. She hissed in pain. "Just do your thing, Ward."

"What 'thing' is that?"

Her eyes started to close as heavy fatigue set in. Wasn't that bad? "Your specialist thing. Save…"

"Skye, stay awake."

She heard his voice from far away and then nothing. Her last thought was a brief prayer that he wouldn't totally screw her over.

XXXXX

Shit. Ward slammed his fist into the steering wheel, pressing down hard on the gas pedal. Skye was losing blood and they were in the French countryside. Nothing was around for miles.

Raina. That was one option.

Did Skye know what she was asking of him? To deliver her up to the very person who wanted to … he didn't really know what she wanted to do to Skye, but it couldn't be good. What Raina wanted was never good. The way she'd been able to work Garrett, even after he'd gone completely insane… to say it was creepy was understatement.

He'd been trying to stay with Skye as long as possible, and did so by withholding information, but now … maybe that had been mistake. She didn't know what she was getting herself into because he hadn't told her the whole story.

Fitz was on him. So was Koenig, the Fridge, and countless other transgressions he'd committed in the name of … Garrett. He couldn't let Skye be another casualty, another black spot on his record … on his life.

He would die before he let that happen.

In the distance, he saw headlights and pulled over off the side the of the road. He was taking a chance. It could be SHIELD in that car, but honestly, he didn't care. At least, with SHIELD Skye would get medical treatment and stay alive.

He checked Skye's pulse and was relieved to find it weak but steady. He opened the car door and stepped out into the middle of the road, waving his arms to get the other driver to stop.

The vehicle was a luxury car. It must be a guest on his or her way to the HYDRA party, Ward guessed, glancing down at his attire. Skye had been hit, but he still looked completely unruffled. With any luck, the driver would think he was a fellow guest in distress.

The car slowed down and pulled off the side of the road. Ward put on his friendliest, most disarming smile and walked up to the driver's side. His luck turned for the better. It was a woman.

"Hi, there. Do you speak English?" He spoke French just fine, but chose not to right now.

The woman's eyes traveled all over his face in obvious admiration. "Oui, monsieur. Is your car having problems?"

Ward leaned suggestively down into the window, bringing his face closer to hers. "Damn thing is beautiful enough, but unreliable."

The woman's eyes turned coy. "Beauty is fleeting, but nice." Her fingertips danced across the bare skin of knuckles. "Very nice while it lasts."

Ward glanced down at her hand, smiling a little. God, this was too easy sometimes. "Do you think you could give me a ride back to the chateau so I can call someone to haul this thing away?" An idea occurred to him. "Perhaps, when we get there, I can find us a quiet place to … talk."

That seemed to appeal to her and she pushed the button that unlocked the car doors. Ward straightened up and walked around the front, flexing his hands briefly. He slid into the passenger seat and shut the door.

The woman, whoever she was, moved her hand to the stick to shift into Drive. "These parties are always so dull. How fortunate it is that we've found each other."

Not so fortunate, he thought, with a twinge of regret, reaching over to put a hand on her shoulder. She was surprised, but looked pleased, and didn't pull away. His hand moved to her face, caressing it like a lover would. The curve of her cheek was soft, as was her throat. His hand slid around and then tightened.

Her eyes widened and there was confusion, then fear, then the futile struggle as she tried to get free. She wouldn't though. He squeezed until she stopped moving and then checked for the absence of a pulse.

Skye didn't have to know about this, he reasoned. She wouldn't like it, even if it was the best way. This woman would have alerted authorities had he let her live and then SHIELD would be on them even quicker.

He got out and lifted her body to put it in the trunk of the Bentley, then he grabbed Skye and put her in the passenger seat. Now, at least for awhile, they would be safe. He started the car and sped away towards what he thought was Paris. He could steal some supplies in the city and then keep going toward Luxembourg, and then Germany. In Germany, he would safe. There was HYDRA safe houses there. He could sneak Skye over the border with him, and hope that none of her enemies knew her face by sight.

**So I'm basically just writing out this fanfic to kill time until the Season 2 premiere. It's torture waiting. :) Anyways, this is just one alternate theory I have about Skye and her heritage-I'm going with the general consensus that her parents are Inhumans, but don't expect strict canon adherence to the comics in this fic.**


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